My guy.
AUDIENCE: Happy birthday!
Thank you! AUDIENCE: Happy birthday!
- Thank you! - That's right.
They all wishing you happy birthday.
This is my birthday.
You celebrated a birthday on Monday, right?
- Yes, sir. - This past Monday.
Yes, sir.
And you celebrated a number one record with "Save Me."
Yes, sir. Yes, sir!
CHARLAMAGNE: Man, what a birthday present.
Having a big week, baby. CHARLAMAGNE: Yeah.
It went number one on the country charts.
And look at me. Now I'm on The Daily Show.
Yeah, on The Daily Show.
--with Charlamagne Tha God, baby.
[cheering]
You know, I love "Save Me," man.
You released it, what, three years ago on YouTube?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
CHARLAMAGNE: Three years ago on YouTube,
and you posted, "I know this is a little different for me,
but I'm wondering if this should make the album or not.
Y'all let me below."
Why didn't you believe the song should make the album?
Oh, man, insecurity, that voice of negativity
that gets in all of our ears, man, that one
that we fight every day.
I'm glad I fought it enough to put it up.
CHARLAMAGNE: Absolutely.
Did "Save Me" taking off change your perspective
on the type of music you do and how you release it?
Because just three years ago, it came out.
But it just went number one on the country charts this week.
Yeah, absolutely, man.
One, it showed me that sometimes you
got to let a song find people.
CHARLAMAGNE: Word.
You know, music meets us where we are.
That's the beauty of it, Charlamagne,
is that music is therapeutic.
It's there to help and heal.
It's a constant in a life that doesn't
have many constants in it.
So I'm just glad to see the song finally touch people.
CHARLAMAGNE: I love your story, too, man.
15 years ago, you were in prison,
and now you're a Grammy-nominated musician.
So I guess my question is-- yeah.
[cheering]
Yeah, right?
So-- so my question is, should everybody go to prison?
Yeah. [laughs]
CHARLAMAGNE: To find success?
Yeah, but-- yeah, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
They're giving it away free, y'all, especially--
[laughter]
I promise it's real easy to get there.
It's easier than you think.
[laughter]
Three hots and a cot, baby.
You got a guaranteed bed, three meals a day.
It's all good, actually.
It's cool.
Might see a high school friend.
[laughter]
And I love your song, "She," too,
man, where you address the heroin and fentanyl epidemic.
Yes, sir.
Why is this song so important to you?
Man, I think it's important as an artist for us
to talk about the things that people
are afraid to talk about.
CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
And that art sometimes is an expression of what
words are even afraid to say.
So I think it's a responsibility as a songwriter
to write those kind of songs.
And the fentanyl epidemic is sickening.
What's happening in America right now
is absolutely sickening.
I think it's 14--
thank you.
I think it's-- thank y'all.
[applause]
So I think I heard a statistic that it's 14 people an hour
overdose and die in the United States of America every hour
on the hour.
CHARLAMAGNE: Damn.
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, 366 in a leap year,
I'm that country.
And I think if you think about those numbers alone,
it shows me that you heard people here sharing that it
has affected every household--
That's right.
--every side of the aisle.
Everybody in America has been affected
by this some way or the other.
And I think it's time we stand up and do something about it.
CHARLAMAGNE: What would you-- that's right.
[applause]
What would you tell people who are struggling
with that addiction?
I would tell them that there is hope,
that my biggest message--
as I actually had my first viral clip, Charlamagne.
I don't know if you know it. CHARLAMAGNE: Come on.
I reposted it. - I know you did.
You helped it go viral.
And I was talking about how it's so important for us
to recognize that our windshield is
bigger than our rear-view mirror for a reason.
Because what's in front of us is more important than what's
behind us-- CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
--that who we were is not who we are.
CHARLAMAGNE: That's right. That's right.
That's right. - Yeah.
[applause]
A lot of people may not know, but I read Juicy J's book,
so I know.
You was down with Three 6 Mafia.
Yes, sir, oh, from day one.
Yeah, you even performed It's Hard Out There for a Pimp
at-- what was it, Bonnaroo?
Yes, sir, Bonnaroo, and I actually
had the privilege of them going on tour with me
and doing five shows.
And we did "Hard Out Here for a Pimp" every night.
Y'all was a group, though, right?
It was you, Lil Wyte, and--
Yeah, me, Lil Wyte, and our guy
BPZ from Indianapolis, who sadly passed away.
Damn. Rest in peace.
Rest in peace, BPZ. Yes, sir.
What did you learn from your time with Three 6?
Oh, man, everything.
Lil Wyte and Three 3, Juicy J and Paul, the importance
of ownership, the importance of independent music,
the importance of making the music for your community,
and that all that matters, representing your people
in music.
Because they didn't care about representing nothing
but Memphis.
And the fact that the sound went worldwide just
shows that how much the problems
are common everywhere.
So write what you know.
Don't write what you think.
Write what you know.
And they taught me a lot through that.
But most importantly, the independence and ownership.
CHARLAMAGNE: Yeah, hip hop has more in common
with country music than people realize.
Like, they're both great storytellers.
They both talk about their vehicles a lot.
You don't think so? JELLY ROLL: Yeah, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, they both talk about bitches.
[laughter]
It is 2023.
You say women, Jelly Roll.
But, no, I meant dogs.
Oh, you meant dogs.
I wrote a bunch of songs about my dog.
What are you talk--
[laughs]
[applause]
Let me get my mind out the gutter.
Yeah, what's wrong with your mind?
I got my dog with me on the bus right now, Bussy the bus dog.
Speaking of that-- speaking of that, though,
it feels to me-- and I'm only getting this from what
I see you post on social--
the more you blow up, the more it
seems like you want to be around your family and
your dog and your loved ones.
Am I reading that correctly? - Yes, sir, man.
OK.
I want to anchor myself in family.
I think it's the root of everything we do.
Plus I'm going to be honest, dude.
We're a little tribe, and they're my best friends.
CHARLAMAGNE: Absolutely.
My favorite human on Earth is my wife.
You know what I mean?
Here, like 100%.
[applause]
I love my daughter.
I love my relationships.
And I was joking a minute ago, but I love my dogs, man.
I got three dogs.
I love my dogs, dude.
They're all with us now.
My wife's got one.
I got two in the bus right now.
What kind of dogs?
I got a basset hound.
She's got a bully.
And we got a French bulldog.
CHARLAMAGNE: OK, all right.
Yeah, we're dog people, dude.
We had a cat--
I had a hairless cat, a bald cat, one of the--
listen, it was so ugly.
It was cute.
It was awesome.
And this cat-- this cat--
CHARLAMAGNE: That's what they used to say
about me when I was younger. - Yeah, right?
CHARLAMAGNE: He's so ugly. He cute.
Yeah. - [laughs]
They kind of still say that now a little bit.
It's better than what they said about me.
He's cute, but he's fat.
[laughter]
But then all you got to do is lose weight,
and you unlock that hidden character.
Yeah, for sure. Oh, yeah, it's over then.
I'd be president.
You know what I'm saying?
God for-- that's why God didn't make me skinny.
He knew I'd abuse the power, you know?
[laughter]
I saw you post a pic of you meeting
Dolly Parton this past month.
As a country artist from Tennessee,
is that like your version of meeting the Pope?
JELLY ROLL: Oh, dude, yes.
It was like meeting Jay-Z. CHARLAMAGNE: OK.
JELLY ROLL: It was that big.
It couldn't have got no bigger for me, dude.
She's the queen.
I've never seen-- I don't know what you know.
You're from the South, but I don't know
what y'all know about little town
called Sevierville, Tennessee.
It's where Dolly Parton is from.
And before Dolly Parton was from there,
and then went back to create the biggest
economical shift in the history of East Tennessee--
CHARLAMAGNE: Wow.
--you wouldn't care to know Sevierville, Tennessee.
I mean, it was a map dot is what we call it.
It was a dot on the map, dude.
It made Moncks Corner look big. CHARLAMAGNE: Really?
You know what I mean?
CHARLAMAGNE: What was the population?
I mean, oh, god, back then, nothing.
I mean, probably in the early thousands.
Yeah.
But she went back to build Dollywood
and has made it one of the best places to travel in America.
So everything she's done for music to her stance,
the way she carried herself, Dolly Parton
is-- her philanthropy-- she is who I aspire to be, man.
CHARLAMAGNE: That's dope.
That's dope.
I was reading--
[applause]
I was reading an interview that the Black Keys did recently.
- [laughs] - Yeah, and they said--
I was wondering if this was going to happen here.
I had to bring it up.
And they said in 2010, you thought
they were making jokes on you.
So you approached them and asked them,
do they want to go? JELLY ROLL: Yeah.
[laughs] - Did they want to fight?
Is that true?
It is.
I'm embarrassed to say, it's a true story.
CHARLAMAGNE: Why, though?
I was fresh out of jail, and I was battling those--
you know, I mean, I still had those habits with me.
And I was just a very, very insecure human, man.
You know what I love to talk about the most about this part
of the story, Charlamagne, is the who I was
and who I am thing again. CHARLAMAGNE: Right.
It's like, man, God softened my heart.
Looking back at that kid, I kind of laugh.
I got blushing when you brought it up
because I was embarrassed a little bit.
But I just took--
I was so entitled and so angry, and everything was about me.
And I thought they were joking and laughing
at us because I was used to being
in that kind of a situation. CHARLAMAGNE: The ego.
Yeah, the ego.
It was all about ego, man.
And, I mean, by the way, I love you all, Black Keys.
It's all peaceful.
I won't try to fight you again.
We're all good.
It's all peace.
I think the music's incredible.
I wish you all well.
CHARLAMAGNE: You know, Patrick Carney
recognized it in you though.
He said that you seemed angry.
And you've admitted that like you just did just now.
You said you were a broken man.
So what made Jelly Roll whole?
Taking the time to love myself,
learning to listen to myself, working.
You do the work. I do the work.
We know each other. CHARLAMAGNE: Go to therapy?
You go to therapy? - Yeah, I go to therapy.
I take it very serious.
My relationship with God.
I'm an old-school Southern man.
I'm just really rooted in my faith and my belief that--
and more than anything, my search for purpose.
I quit searching to be happy, and I started
searching to be useful.
And that's when everything changed for me.
Because, to me, I want to be a man of service.
I want to help people.
I want to lead people in the right direction.
And I know that when this is all said and done,
the jokes we make will come and go.
The two things that will stand, Charlamagne, is how
me and you made people feel-- CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
--and what music was made.
And that's what's important. So I just want to make--
I want to lift people up.
I tore people down for decades.
And I just want to lift us all up.
CHARLAMAGNE: Me and you both. Yeah.
[applause]
It's interesting what you said, though,
because it's like you said.
You're a old-school Southern man.
I feel the same way, but we got new-school resources.
So I believe in God and therapy.
- Absolutely. - Yeah.
For sure, I believe in God and therapy.
I believe in the universe. CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
Hey, listen, if you convince me
that because you're an Aquarius we get along, I'm in.
I'm listening, dude.
I'm down.
I am extremely open minded in my old age.
You know what I'm saying?
[laughs] You know, I loved the video
you referenced earlier when you gave the acceptance speech.
You recently-- it was for New Artist of the Year
at the CMAs, right?
JELLY ROLL: Yes, sir.
Was that prewritten, or did your hip
hop kick in, and that was just a freestyle off the top?
What was that?
It was the old-school freestyle,
half and half, right?
I didn't think I was going to win.
I thought Zach Bryan had it by a landslide.
I think he is one of the most incredible artists on Earth,
and he deserved it.
And I was prepared to clap for him was my spirit.
And, in fact, I put my hand on his shoulder
and said, be sure to shout me out and winked at him.
But when I walked up there, I held this up.
And I looked up, and it said 57, 56, 55.
And I said, boy, you better say something that matters.
And I just kind of-- if you ever
come to a Jelly Roll show-- and I encourage
you all to buy a ticket.
You ever come to a Jelly Roll show--
you'll see that I call it the Back Row Baptism Tour
because it's like an old Southern tent
revival a little bit too.
So I do something like that every night on stage.
CHARLAMAGNE: You had some Black pastor in you
when you gave that speech.
Oh, man, I'm from Antioch, Tennessee, Bubba.
There's a-- it was--
we went to 100-person churches, and it was 70%
Black, 30% white, poor people.
CHARLAMAGNE: Word. - I just--
CHARLAMAGNE: Same difference. - I'm Southern Baptist.
Exactly. Yeah.
That line is razor thin right there for sure.
That's right.
Do you feel pressure to deliver another great acceptance
speech after that one went viral?
Well, no, because I don't expect to win anything.
Man, stop.
[laughs]
I saw you say that, man.
I'm nominated for a Grammy.
And I'm just like, dude, I don't--
I'm afraid that if I actually won a Grammy, Charlamagne,
I would just snot rocket the whole time.
[laughter]
CHARLAMAGNE: That will definitely go viral.
And then they'd have to turn the music on,
and I'm just weeping like a child.
CHARLAMAGNE: That could be dope though.
You could be the new Michael Jordan meme.
Right?
I was worried that was going to happen anyway.
- Yes. - Yeah.
That's my aspiration in life, Charlamagne.
Thank you.
But you got two Grammy nominations.
Yes, sir.
But you said you don't feel like you deserve either one.
Why is that?
You still dealing with, like, imposter
syndrome a little bit?
I'm working through that, too, because it's like--
and, also, I just--
I'm really struggling with--
killing the ego was a big part of me
becoming a better person.
And then you're in a situation where it's a lot of me,
I, I, me, me, me.
So I'm always trying to fight that battle, too, of just,
like, just ground myself in humility.
And, also, respect people's art, dude.
Noah Kahan is unbelievable.
You know what I mean?
Like, he's unbelievable, right?
Clearly, I know y'all didn't vote for me, but it's--
[laughter]
But I would have voted for him, too, if I get a vote.
So it's just also respecting other people's art.
CHARLAMAGNE: I'mma get you a book called Ego
Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday.
It's a great read. You should read it.
Really? Yes.
- Absolutely. - Is it the red-covered book?
It's a red cover and a green cover if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, hook me up though.
I'm an avid reader.
CHARLAMAGNE: So let me ask you this question.
I surprise people with my ability to read.
CHARLAMAGNE: Not me.
[laughter]
I could listen to you talk and know that you're well read.
Yeah, they pulled up--
They sleep on those guys that grew up on a dirt road.
Right. I'm telling you, baby.
We may not can't pronounce, but we're well read.
100-- we'll say it wrong every time.
- That's right. - But we know what it means.
That's right.
So what does Jelly Roll feel like he deserves?
You know, I'm starting to feel better.
I start to feel like I deserve this ability to be
able to work this hard and to be able to influence
this many people.
And I take that very serious.
And that's why I'm very, very, very
direct about the message I'm trying to present and promote.
Because I feel like I'm a voice for the voiceless.
And I speak for a group of people that haven't never
been properly spoken for.
CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
And I take that very serious.
And it gives me a lot of purpose, man.
I'm finding purpose in life, and it's really cool.
CHARLAMAGNE: Man, Jelly Roll, you deserve it all,
my brother. - I love you, baby.
- I love you too. - Thank you, man.